Read this right now!

June 28, 2012

I’m reading through the Gospel of Mark this morning and was reminded again of the immediacy of this short biography. “Immediately,” “At once” and “Without Delay” are words used over and over again. Pick any chapter and you will find multiple examples of Mark’s sense of urgency. Check it for yourself. Right now!

It seems like life in 2012 is a lot more like Mark saw it than say, Joseph, who languished in prison for years waiting for something to happen, or Isaiah, who wandered barefoot and naked for three years as a warning sign to Israel. (Naked and barefoot for three years in the Middle East? Seems like a warning sign for sun screen. But I digress.)

While living in Indiana my daily commute was often accompanied by “I’m In A Hurry” by the band, Alabama. And we just finished Vacation Bible School, where that song could easily have been the theme song of the preparation team. I was up at 6:30 this morning, my day off, for crying out loud. But even as I hurry through this post, so I can get on with things, I am reminded that, “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength…” (Isaiah 40:13) But I am vindicated! Modern translations say “hope in the Lord” not “wait upon the Lord.”

We have these wrestling matches going on all the time don’t we. There is so much that must happen today. “Call within the next thirty minutes to get….” Even when we hear these commercials, we know that they are aired at all times of the day, all over the country, and there is an unlimited supply of whatever is being urgently hawked, but many do call right now so they won’t miss out. But at the same time we need to slow down and enjoy the moment. We need to slow down and enjoy our families. We, some of us anyway, need to slow down and enjoy our work.

I have been, on several occasions, prompted by the Spirit of God to do something right now! But even to hear those promptings we need to be living a life in balance; might I say, a quiet life. We won’t hear the Spirit if we have pushed the fast-forward button on our life.

So, you may not see this post right away. I am going to stop for breakfast, maybe even lunch. Then I will make sure I didn’t miss-spell misspell, or anything else, add a few comments, and then maybe I’ll post it. But I’ll try not to rush it.

What do you do to keep your life in balance? Do you hurry through important things simply to get to the fun stuff? Do you miss the fun stuff? Are you in a hurry to get things done? Have you learned to wait upon the Lord?

2 Responses to “Read this right now!”

To slow down and listen, quietly, I pull out a clipping of a poem I discovered when my children were little and I reread it. It brings me back from being way too busy to the importance of prioritizing precious time to nurture relationships. Irene Foster wrote: “Now is the time to get things done; wade in the water, sit in the sun, squish my toes in the mud by the door, explore the world with the boy just four….later there’ll be time to sew and clean, paint the hall that soft, new green, make new drapes, refinish the floor, later on when he’s not just four.” It simply works for me, reminding me to get the best things done, especially in these wonderfully long days of summer. Great blog Tim! I love it how your questions make me think!